Category: Uncategorized

(The following post was inspired by this video. Hat tip to Ducking Beamers for passing it along.)

On the 6th of July, 2005, the city of London was awarded the 2012 Summer Olympics by the International Olympic committee.

The very next day, four Islamist terrorist detonated four homemade peroxide bombs, three on the London tube, and a fourth on a double decker bus. 52 people were killed, another 700 were injured.

Two weeks later, at Lord’s Cricket Grounds in the heart of the London, a coin was tossed, and thus began the 2005 Ashes.

In my last post, I railed against politics and sport, but at the same time, nothing, and I mean nothing, can heal a community like sport can.

Full stop.

England needed cricket, and cricket delivered.

Not at Lord’s of course, as Australia dismantled the hosts; winning by 239 runs, but I digress.

The 7/7 bombings were not the only terrorist attacks in what was a bloody summer around the globe: on the 4th of May, an insurgent exploded a bomb at Kurdish police center in northern Iraq, killing 60; and in Israel on July the 12th five people were killed and another 90 injured in a suicide attack on a shopping mall.

And of course, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars were raging. And I mean raging. 19 US soldiers were killed on the 28th of June in a failed mission in the Kunar province of Afghanistan. In Iraq, in July, August, and September, the three months that contained the Ashes series, 195 coalition troops were killed, including six Brits: Leon Spicer (26 years old), Phillip Hewett (21), and Richard Shearer (26) on the 16th of July in Al Amarah; Donal Anthony Meade (20) and Stephen Robert Manning (22) on the 5th of September near Basra; and Matthew Bacon (36) on the 11th of Septemer also near Basra.

Australia lost two soldiers in the Iraq War, the first was on the 11th of June, 2005: David Russell Nary. He was killed in a vehicle accident in Kuwait. He was 42 years old and had served in Australia’s military for 25 years.

The world will long remember Flintoff, Pietersen, Ponting, and Warne, but the world has already forgotten Leon, and Richard, and Matthew. That’s a stupid thing to say, I know, but I think it is emblematic of how modern society overvalues sport while simultaneously undervaluing life (says the guy who devotes hours of his time to a cricket blog) but I don’t think that’s entirely correct: we overvalue sport in order to escape from that we cannot change, to escape from the dark places. If we did not do this, we would all go mad. There is just too much tragedy in this world…

And with the backdrop of bloodshed, Australia won the coin toss under cloudy English skies at Lord’s, and chose to have a bat.

Harmison took five wickets, Flintoff and Jones each took took two, and Australia were restricted to a paltry 190 all out. Unfortunately, for England, their first four batsmen scored only 15 runs between them, Glenn McGrath took five wickets, and England’s first innings were over for only 155.

Australia then piled up 385 runs in their second innings in a well balanced offensive display, the stand out score being Michael Clarke’s 91. England were chasing 420 runs, and they didn’t even come close, losing by 239. The match began on July the 21st, a Thursday, and ended on July the 24th, a Sunday.

On July the 22nd, Metro Police shot and killed Jean Charles de Menezens, a misidentified suspect in the 7/7 bombings. His story is both tragic and important. Read it.

On July the 23rd, Bedouin militants detonated bombs in resorts throughout the Sharm el-Sheikh region of Egypt; killing 80 and injuring 200.

On July the 28th, after 3,527 deaths, including over 1,800 civilians, the Provisional IRA declared an end to its campaign, effectively ending the Irish “Troubles.”

On August the 2nd, an Air France flight skidded off a runway in Toronto and burst into flames. Fatalities: Zero.

And on August the 4th, 22 cricketers regathered in Birmingham, England for the 2nd test of the 2005 Ashes.

Australia won the toss again, but this time chose to have a bowl, despite the fact that McGrath had pulled up lame in training and was dropped from the starting eleven.

Trescothick, Pietersen, and Flintoff put up scores of 90, 71, and 68, respectively, to lead their team to 407 all out in their first innings. In Australia’s half of the first innings Flintoff and Giles each took three wickets and Australia were all out for only 308.

For England: hope.

Unfortunately, despite a magical 73 off of 133 for Flintoff, Australia dismissed England for just 182 in the second innings, setting a target of 282 runs. Achievable for Australia’s batsmen, surely.

But then, in the 13th over, Freddie Flintoff delivered what some have called the greatest over ever bowled, taking the wickets of Ponting and Langer.

It was a very nervy finish for England, but finally, Harmison got Kasprowicv to edge to Geraint Jones, and the match was won. The series was tied at one a piece. It was a Sunday afternoon, August the 7th.

On August the 6th, Robin Cook passed away. The UK politician famously resigned as Leader of the House of Commons to protest the UK’s involvement in the invasion of Iraq. His epitaph reads: “I may not have succeeded in halting the war, but I did secure the right of parliament to decide on war.”

On August the 9th, the Space Shuttle Discovery safely returned to earth – successfully completing the first shuttle mission since the Columbia was lost, 29 months earlier.

And, in the city of Manchester, on August the 10th, our 22 cricketers were at it again, at Old Trafford, for the third Ashes Test…and the enthusiasm for the series, and for cricket in general, was spreading, and building, as England looked for something to collectively believe in again, after those bombs had ripped through their sense of security one month prior.

England won the toss this time and chose to have a bat, with McGrath and Lee both in the side, but both still recovering from injuries. The hosts went on to score 444, thanks in part to Vaughn’s lucky 166 (he was dropped on 41, and 45, and 141). Australia were held to 302, as Simon Jones took six wickets whilst allowing less than three runs an over. Giles, too, had a good innings in England’s attack, taking the wickets of three of the Aussies’s four opening batsmen.

In the second innings, Strauss scored a century and England declared near the end of day four, a target of 423 set for Australia.

Day five dawned with hordes of England supporters trying to get into Old Trafford to see their country take a 2-1 lead in the Ashes. So many so that over 10,000 had to be turned away at the gates. Test cricket was alive and well that summer in England, thanks to Flintoff and Pietersen, but also thanks to Hassib Hussain, Mohammed Sidique Khan, Germaine Lindsay, and Shehzad Tanweek, surely.

But Australia received a heroic captain’s innings from Ricky Ponting (156 runs, nearly seven hours, 275 balls) and the visitors hung on for a draw. The Ashes were still tied at 1-1.

The match had begun on August the 11th, a Thursday; and ended on a Monday afternoon, August the 15th.

On August the 14th, Helios Airways Flight 522 crashed in Greece, killing 121 people.

On August the 16th, West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 crashed in Venezuela, killing 152 people.

And on August the 25th, the coin was tossed at Trent Bridge in Nottingham to begin the fourth test of the 2005 Ashes series.

Just as in Manchester, England won the toss and chose to have a bat. And just as in Manchester, they put up a huge score: amassing 477 runs, though the hero this time was of course none other than Freddie Flintof, whose 102 off of 132 led the team. Shane Warne took four wickets for Australia to limit the damage, but it was not enough.

England then went on to bowl out Australia for a mere 218, their highest scoring batsman was Brett Lee, a tail ender, and England forced the follow on. The second innings saw a better balanced batting performance from Australia, but they were still only able to score 387, leaving England only 129 runs to chase down, and almost two full days to do it in.

And that they did, by the skin of their teeth, but they did it nonetheless. England was now ahead in the series two matches to one, and a draw at the Kennington Oval away from winning the Ashes for the first time in 17 years.

It was August the 28th 2005, a Sunday.

On August the 29th, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Southeast Louisiana. The storm, and its aftermath, would claim almost 2,000 lives.

Two days later, in Baghad, on the Al-Aaimmah bridge, a stampede killed 953 civilians.

One week after that, the Australian and English cricket teams were back in London, to decide the Ashes.

Just like in Manchester, and just like in Nottingham, England won the toss and chose to have a bat. And just like in Manchester, and just like in Nottingham, they put up a decent score, thanks in most part to one batsman. This time, it was Andrew Strauss’s 129 off of 210.

Australia batted well, too, with their openers Langer and Hayden scoring a combined 243 to lead their team to within six runs of England’s score, despite five wickets from Flintoff.

In the second innings, the hero was Kevin Pietersen with 158 off of 187, giving Australia a target of 342 runs.

Unfortunately, for the Australians, it was well into day five when Shane Warne finally took Shane Harmison’s wicket, and there just wasn’t enough time for a result. The match ended in a draw, and on September the 12th, 2005, a Monday afternoon, England regained the Ashes.

It was a bloody, violent, and destructive summer. Like so many summers before it and so many summers after, the summer of 2005 is looked back on by millions as a dark and awful and tragic time. But for cricket fans throughout England, young and old alike, it is remembered as a time of glorious victory, and I think that is okay.

Sports at is best is escapist, but unlike other escapist activities, it provides a real sense of black and white, it provides clear winners and clear losers, it provides pure heroes, and pure moments, and pure relief, and pure joy.  And the England cricketers provided all of the above in spades to their fellow countrymen that summer, when they needed it the most.

Blood on the front pages, glory on the back pages. A balance between light and dark. Keeping the universe level. A remarkable summer.

On September the 21st of this year, 11 men from England, and 11 men from Afghanistan, will gather on a field in Colombo, Sri Lanka, for a spot of cricket.

Of course, this isn’t just any cricket match. It is a group stage match in the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Cup. It’s a marquee match in a marquee event.

Like most countries that will be competing in Sri Lanka this fall, Afghanistan’s history is linked to Britain in a myriad of different ways. In fact, most of the time, when England is playing an international cricket match, it is against a former colony: it is conquerer versus conquered, prisoner versus jailor, revolutionary versus oppressor.

In the case of Afghanistan, the country was seen as the dividing line between the British Empire and the Russian Empire, and therefore saw invading force after invading force for centuries. Furthermore, unlike England’s other former dominions, there are currently British boots on the ground in Afghanistan. Around 9,500, give or take.

412 British soldiers have died in the fighting since 2001, including 18 just this year, and the number of Afghani civilians that have died in the conflict since 2001 is incalculable, though conservative estimates put it in the tens of thousands.

England and Afghanistan will of course not be the first two nations involved in an armed conflict to compete against each other in an international sporting event, but I think it will add an interesting subtext to the tournament. Especially since, technically, Britain is not at war with the government of Afghanistan, they are at war with the Taliban. They are not invading, they are liberating. Or vice versa. Depends on who you ask. Like I said: subtext.

Hopefully, for all concerned parties, it will be a friendly little cricket match, one which sees the minnows Afghanistan make their country proud and give the English a good scrap.

Personally, I would rather keep politics completely out of sport. Yeah, sure, there are moments when it heals, when it transcends. Jesse Owens at the Berlin Olympics comes to mind. So does Sean Avery. Jackie Robinson, too. As does South Africa winning the Rugby World Cup

But too often it is Munich ’72, or Le Guerra de Futbol, or the USA boycotting Moscow ’80, or the Soviets boycotting Los Angeles ’84, or Tommie Smith and John Carlos* . Or even, more recently, the deadly football riots in Egypt which really had absolutely nothing to do with football.

And on a more subtle level, events such as the Olympics, the European Championships, and, truthfully, most international cricket matches, are gross exercises in nationalism: You live on that side of this imaginary line in the sand, and therefore we are enemies.

Sure most of the time it is harmless fun, I guess, and maybe I am making too big of a deal out of it, but what it comes down to is that I don’t think we should be mixing sports and politics at all, or sports and nationalism. Or politics and music, for that matter. Politics are the opposite of sport, they are the death of sport. If the ICC wants to talk about the “spirit of the game” then they should stop allowing it to be politicized. (You, too, US State Department.)

And because of that, the Indian Premiere League, despite being a big steaming pile of cricket killing ebola to some, is actually what might save it in the end, because it removes all those imaginary boundaries. Players from New Zealand line up alongside players from Holland, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. It’s utopian, even.

To bring it all back home: there will be an interesting subtext to the England v Afghanistan match on September the 21st of this year, but I really do wish that that subtext did not exist. That it was simply a cricket match for us all to enjoy with a pint and a friend.

*I was quite hesitant to include that one. At the end of the day, it was a divisive gesture, and against the spirit of the games – it politicized a pure moment. I am interested to hear readers’ comments however. Also: the 1984 Miracle on Ice: patriotic hallmark for the USA? Or a globally divisive victory that set back Soviet-US relations? You make the call.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, the last match of the English summer is a t20 against South Africa on Wednesday, September the 12th in Birmingham, England.

Eight days later and six thousand miles away, South Africa is scheduled to play its first match of the ICC World t20 against Zimbabwe in Hambantota, Sri Lanka.

One day later, England will play Afghanistan in the same tournament in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (More on the interesting implications of this particular match in tomorrow’s post.)

Now that right there is some serious fixture congestion. Especially considering County Cricket will still be having matches AND today Sri Lanka Cricket announced that the Sri Lankan Premiere League will be happening in 2012, tentatively scheduled for August 10-31. Right in the heart of South Africa’s tour of England, and right up against the ICC tournament.

Of course, this jumble of fixtures will affect very few players. There are no other major tours going on during the SLPL, and cricketers will more than likely appreciate having the tournament to use as a warm up for the World t20s. And I am sure the English and South African cricket boards will, fairly or unfairly, keep their players in England for the tour and not allow them to whore themselves out to the SLPL.

But, again, here we are: too much cricket.

I understand Sri Lanka Cricket’s position. Most other test playing nations (even Bangladesh!) have international t20 tournaments in existence to line the wallets of their cricket boards via TV deals, sponsorships, and ticket sales – why not Sri Lanka, too?

I have no answer to that question. But it is just starting to get a bit out of hand, and sooner or later, the ICC is going to need to step in and draw a line in the sand. Players flying all over the world to play in a dozen different tournaments is detrimental to the game in so many ways.

The worst part, for me, is that while we fans do get plenty of matches to watch, the overall quality of the cricket is going downhill…and quickly. And that is genuinely scary for the future of the sport we all love.

I have said three hundred times before: cut back on the cricket, and we all win. There are too many matches, too many tournaments, too many series, too many formats. No other sport, not even football, stretches its players quite as thin as cricket does, and it needs to be stopped.

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Another article today on the future of the sport we all love: India is in dire straits, financially.

The gist of the article is that India will be the world’s number one economy before the century is out, but economic growth is not keeping up with population growth. Furthermore, the entire region depends on India as a catalyst to inspire its growth, and so a serious downturn would greatly affect all of SE Asia, and in a ripple effect, the world.

Now, the article is one economist’s opinion, and what serious financial downturns have on sport is quite debatable, but if India starts to lose interest in cricket, then the sport really is in trouble.

I don’t think that will happen anytime soon, but what could happen is that India stops caring about the less financially attractive version of the game: test cricket.

That, I think, is a very real possibility, and a very real fear.

And, therefore, this fall, every neutral should be squarely in India’s corner when England visit for a highly anticipated four match series.

My two cents.

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In blog news, I have been asked by Graywolf Press to review a book about cricket that they are launching later this spring. Keep an eye on the site for my review!

The English “Summer” is upon us.

This morning, at the County Ground in Hove, the West Indians played Sussex in the first warm-up match of the tour. It’s May the 6th, the football season is still very much happening, and the weather is cold, damp, and overcast.

Like I said: “Summer”.

Another instance of there being too much cricket. The “summer” should start in June, when the weather is hot and the skies are high. When the football cup finals  are a distance memory, not still fighting for column space on the back pages. But, hey, it’s here now, so why not enjoy it?

I enjoy the English summer for the same reason I enjoy tours in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the West Indies: the matches make sense to me time-zone-wise.

The tests start at 5am local time, the ODIs at 5:45am (the day-nighters at 9am), and the T20s start at 9am-ish, as well.

Plus, the grounds in England are normally at capacity for the tests, which will be a welcome change from the empty terraces in the UAE, the West Indies…etc. Big crowds at lovely venues just make for a better viewing experience; even on my computer.

And what are we going to see this summer?

First up, the rejuvenated West Indies. While this won’t be the most thrilling series, as our friends from the Caribbean are of course no where near the quality of the West Indian teams of the past that gave England fits, they are far better then they were during their last visit.

Also, the big news: Chris Gayle is back for the ODIs and the t20. He should be enough to make the one-dayers competitive and fun for the neutrals.

But before the one-dayers, we will be treated to three tests: May 17-21 at Lord’s, May 25-29 at Trent Bridge, and June 7-11 at Edgbaston. Those are followed by three ODIs: June 16 at the Rose Bowl, June 19 at the Oval, and June 22 in Headingly.  And the tour wraps up with single t20 at Trent Bridge.

And then Australia comes to town for one ODI against Ireland (that should be fun) and five ODIs against England. No tests, unfortunately, but I am actually not all that bummed about that. The ODIs should be competitive and entertaining, and we have the Ashes to look forward to in 2013.

I am surprised that the Australian and English cricket boards didn’t schedule at least one t20, with the t20 World Cup coming up this fall. But, hey, cricket boards making questionable scheduling decisions is par for the course.

The ODI against Ireland is on June 23 in Belfast, the first ODI against England on June 29 at Lord’s, the second on July 1 at the Oval, the third on July 4 at Edgbaston, the fourth on July 7 at the Riverside Ground (Durham’s home ground), and the fifth on July 10 at Old Trafford.

And then: the series that is making cricket fans the world over salivate in anticipation, as South Africa comes to down for three tests (boooooo), five ODIs, and three t20s.  The number one test nation versus the number two test nation. And while it is really unfortunate that they are only playing three tests and that the second test is going to be played in the long shadows of the Olympics in London, it should be a great series.

Those t20s in particular will be great fun, as both teams get in shape for the World Cup.

The first test at the Oval, from July 19-23; the second at Headingley, from August 2-6; and the third at Lord’s, from August 16-20.

All three should be just lovely. the Oval in July, Leeds during the Olympics as London parties, and finally Lord’s to close it all out and possibly decide the world number one.

The ODIs are at Sophia Gardens (Cardiff), the Rose Bowl, the Oval, Lord’s, and Trent Bridge on August 22, 24, 28, September 2 and 5, respectively. The t20s are back in Durham, back at old Trafford, and back at Edgbaston on September 8, 10, and 12.

And that’s it, that’s the English summer. From the coin toss on May 17 at Lord’s to the final ball in Manchester on September 12. Four months, 22 matches, 46 total days of cricket (counting the Ireland match and if each test goes the distance).

The more I read and write about it, the more excited I get.

It should be a wonderful summer of sport: the Euros, the Olympics, and an all-round entertaining English cricketing summer.

And, considering I am able to work from home, and considering all three events are available to watch here in the states on ESPN3, over the air TV, and Willow, respectively, I hope to be able to watch big chunks of all three. Looking forward to it all.

A quick bit of housekeeping: Yesterday Limited Overs received the most hits it has ever received in a single day. Thanks again to those that retweeted and reblogged, I do appreciate it. 

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This morning, I was working from home, and therefore was lucky enough to be able to watch the first innings of Royal Challengers Bangalore versus Kings XI Punjab in the 44th match of the 2012 Indian Premiere League. 

KXIP defeated RCB by four wickets with one ball to spare, in a hard fought and entertaining cricket match. 

And I am going to go on record here: I like the IPL. I really do enjoy it. And I wish I could watch more of it.  

I like the uniforms, I like the crowds, I like that a vast majority of the best players in the world are on display, and I like that Willow TV carries every match live as well as on demand.  

And on that note, some news: I have “picked” an IPL team: Royal Challengers Bangalore will be the team I support going forward. I know this announcement sounds oh so terribly childish, but it is unfortunately just part of enjoying a sport that does not have a franchise in your home town. Sooner or later: you have to choose, or the sport starts to lose a bit of its luster. 

This was initially decided a few days ago, as I was reading Dirk Nannes’ IPL diary, which I highly recommend you read, if you have not done so already. 

Nannes is a pretty interesting dude: not a full time cricketer until his 20s (did not make his first class debut until he was 29), a world class downhill skier, and a well above average writer. Plus, according to Cricinfo, he speaks Japanese, plays the saxophone,  and operates his own skiiing tourism business. 

A true renaissance man, surely. 

At first, I was not sure about RBC, as Nannes does not really play all that often for them, but the decision was confirmed as I was watching their match this morning, as they really are a collection of some of my absolute favorite current cricketers: de Villiers, Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle…etc. Plus they play their home matches at the understated yet lovely M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore: 

Two drawbacks: they are named after a booze. Lame. And their theme song is, well, not the greatest. 

But, either way, for the time being, they are my IPL team. Let’s see how this goes. Three weeks are left in the group stage, so hopefully that’s enough time for RCB to get back into the top four.  

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And with that all said: the first test of the English summer is just 15 days away. 

15 days until the West Indies visit Lord’s. I cannot wait. 

And with the new job, and this working from home thing, I will be able to watch a great deal of it.  Huzzah. 

Until next time. 

First of all, I would like to thank everyone for the kind praise regarding the post on Kolkata 2001. It was an idea I had had for a few months now, but I was unable to find a good five day news cycle that matched up with at least a mildly interesting test match. But I think it worked out okay.

Secondly, as the Cricket Couch pointed out, if I am to be taken the least bit seriously as a cricket blogger, then I need to quit it with the confusing titles for my posts.

The point of them was always to drive home the fact that there was always cricket happening somewhere, every day of the year, and that I thought that was cool; but that point has been made, and even if I wanted to continue making it, I could do so without using confusing blog post titles. And when I started, I felt I needed a gimmick, and some structure. But, alas, I took it too far down the river.

And not only is it confusing, it is also misleading. If someone, for example, googles a Zimbabwean league match and ends up here only to see that I was actually writing about Yorkshire CCC, well, then that’s bait and switch, plain and simple. Even worse: it’s impression whoring. Egads, right?

Though, honestly, I never meant it to be as such.

And, so, the blog titles will now instead relate directly to the subject matter of the post. You’re welcome.

It’s the start of a new era here at Limited Overs. What’s past is prologue. Onward and upward, dear friends.

The 1,535th test match took place on March the 11th, 2001 between India and Australia at the ground known as Eden Gardens in Kolkata, India.

Australia had won the first match of the three test series in Mumbai by ten wickets.

On the cricket pitch, India were stumbling. On the world stage, however, they were transcending. The previous May had seen the birth of their billionth citizen and a visit from the President of the United States.  In January of 2001 they joined the exclusive club of nations able to launch satellites deep into space.

January of 2001 also the city of Calcutta unleash the bonds of colonialism and officially revert to its pre-colonial name of Kolkata.

And speaking of British Colonialism, their opponents at Eden Gardens, Australia, had just kicked off a year celebration in January to commerate their one hundredth anniversary as a Federation. The previous summer Sydney had hosted the Summer Olympics.

It was not all roses, of course. At the time of the 1,535th test match, Indians were still mourning the 30,000 souls killed in a massive earthquake in the western state of Gujarat. And Australians were just a little over a year away from the tragic bombings in Bali.

Personally, I was living in the Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis, on the second floor of a two story duplex, with my wife (then girlfriend) and a roommate. Two months prior, I had started working at the Manhattan Toy company, a job I would hold, and love, for the next six years. It was a tremendously happy time in my life.

And with that backdrop, on the morning of March the 11th, with fog and a chill in the air (the day saw a record setting low temperature, though the cool air was short lived), Australia won the coin flip and chose to bat. A little while later, as temperatures spiked into the 90s, where they would stay all day, out walked opening batsmen Michael Slater and Matthew Hayden to begin what is widely considered one of the greatest test matches in the history of the world.

At lunch on the first day, Australia were 88 without loss. Slater and Hayden were both 41*. At tea they were 193/1 – Slater had fallen for 42.

In the third session, Harbhajan Singh took a hattrick of Australian wickets, and the vistors ended the session, and the day, at 291/8.  A decent enough score, despite the collapse, but Australia would have hoped for more, considering the decent batting track.

Meanwhile:

In Southern Serbia, a cease fire between ethnic Albanian guerillas and Serbian forces was breached, as sporadic fighting broke out up and down the Presevo Valley.  An 11 year old Serbian boy was killed when Albanian mortar shell struck his house….

Bloody and violent protests broke out in Ukraine, the Dalai Lama called for a referendum on Tibet, and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Boston Celtics 97-91.

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Day two in Kolkata dawned in the same manner it had the day before, with fog and cool temperatures, but by the time Steve Waugh and Jason Gillespie walked back out to the crease, it was 90 degrees.

Waugh, Australia’s captain, and Gillespie, went on to produce a magnificent 9th wicket stand of 133. Waugh scored a century, Gillespie 46, his highest score to date in a test match.

At lunch Australia were 383/8, and 50 minutes before tea, they were finally bowled out for 445.

From 291 for eight to 445 all out.  The worm had turned, Australia were comfortably in the ascendancy.

And India’s troubles continued with the bat, despite the fact that the pitch appeared to be more than just a little batter friendly. Ramesh fell for a duck. And the rest of his side did not fair much better.

The day ended with India in all sorts of trouble at 128/8, needing a miracle to avoid the follow-on.

Also, on March the 12th, 2001: Pope John Paul II beatified 233 Spanish martyrs of the Spanish Civil War, the last step before sainthood, in an effort to avoid further attacks from the Basque separatists.

In an eery bit of foreshadowing, speaking in Spanish from Vatican City, the pontiff said:

“Terrorism is born of hatred and, in turn, feeds it. It is radically unjust and increases the situations of injustice, gravely offends God and the dignity and rights of people. With terror, man always comes out the loser,” John Paul said.

“No motive, no cause or ideology can justify it,” he said. “Only peace can build peoples. Terror is the enemy of humanity.”

Six months later, we all know what happened.

Also on the 12th, Astronauts aboard the International Space Station, completed the longest space walk in Nasa’s history: four minutes shy of nine hours.

Oh, and Rod Stewart released his 19th studio album: “Human”.

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On day three in Kolkata, the worm turned again.

VVS Laxman played a brilliant half century in a vain attempt to avoid having to follow on, but Warne got him to edge to Hayden, and India ended at 171 all out before the lunch break.

In the follow on, India were 274 runs adrift. Das and Ramesh fell for 30 and 39 respectively, and then VVS Laxman was back at the crease, promoted to third in the lineup after his half century earlier in the day.

Laxman would go on to score a century that afternoon, and India would end the day at 254/4, with Laxman partnered with Rahul Dravid. Laxman was on 109, Dravid on 7.

There were seeds of hope among the Indian faithful, but it was still Australia’s match to lose.

And while hope was growing in Kolkata, six American soldiers were killed in Kuwait during a training exercise, a Palenstian was killed by Israeli soldiers during a bloody protest on the West Bank, the cease fire in southern Serbia finally took hold, as all was quiet in the Presevo Valley, and the Dow plunged 436 points, over 4%, to 10,208 and change, as part of a global sell off.

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Day four: March the 14th: another hot, hot day in Kolkata, and a day that Indian cricket fans will never forget.

Dravid and Laxman walked out at ten o’clock in the morning, and they would bat all day.

The day began with India at 254/4.

At lunch they were 376/4 (Laxman 171, Dravid 50).

At tea they were 491/4 (Laxman 227, Dravid 106).

They just kept batting on and on and on.

And Eden Gardens turned into a sea of Indian flags, cheering on what was surely the greatest performance they would ever hope to see on a cricket field.

At stumps they were 589/4 (Laxman 275, Dravid 155).

As VVS walked off, to quote the Old Batsman: “His face was a picture, the look of a total chancer in love with the absurdity of it all.”

I cannot look at the picture without getting chills.

Elsewhere, on March the 14th, as Dravid and Laxman walked off at Eden Gardens: more clashes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, a US ban on meat imports from Europe as fears of Hoof and Mouth disease swept through the UK,  and the Yugoslavian army moved into the Presevo Valley: Peace was coming to the Balkans after a decade of war.

*

Day five in Kolkata, and Laxman and Dravid walked back out.

Dravid fell in a run out, Laxman was caught by Ponting at slip, and India declared at 657 before lunch.

And the pitch was starting to spin.

Harbhajan Singh took six Autralian wickets, and to the delight of the Indian fans, the visitors could just not hang on for a draw.

Just after tea, Singh got McGrath out lbw and the match was over.

India had been forced to follow-on, but still won the match by 171 runs, thanks to a truly magnificent bit of batting from Dravid and Laxman.

Over those five days, 1.7 million babies were born.

Over those five days, 1.25 million people lost their lives.

It was a Test match. The world didn’t stop to watch. Time and history marched on alongside it. But for five days, it marked time for cricket fans the world over.

Only so much can happen during a 90 minute football match, but in five days, the whole world can change. And for many, during those five days in March, it did.

*

Globalization.

Some will argue for it: that it spreads democracy and capitalism, assisting the Third World into economic security.

Most argue against it: because it destroys indigenous cultures, it wreaks havoc on the environment, it exploits cheap labor, it gives developed countries an unfair advantage. And the list goes on.

Most progressive thinking, educated, modern citizens understand that globalization is in some ways a necessary evil, but most also believe that things are going too far, too fast, and that First World nations need to step a little more lightly in their dealings with under-developed countries.

Let’s stop being a bully, let’s stop exploiting cheap labor, let’s stop incentivizing smaller nations to building o-zone destroying factories,  let’s stop encouraging the destruction of rain forests…and so on.

So what exactly does this have to do with cricket, you ask?

Well, globalization, and the evils involved in globalization are not new.

To wit:

The sun never set on the British Empire, as you can plainly see, though it surely does now.

Englishmen brought Christianity, the slave trade, and exploitation to every corner of the earth.

They also brought their sport.

All ten of the current nations with Test status are former British Colonies, in one way or another.

Therefore, in a very real way, the sport of cricket that we all love does not exist in its current form without Globalization and the British Empire.

I think about this a lot. And it always serves to make me feel a little, well, gross.

Millions died so I could enjoy Australia v West Indies. In the initial conquests, the occupations, and the revolutions.

But this is true for most sports I enjoy. Africa loves football, for example, and the sport of baseball does not exist without my ancestor’s destruction of the Native American tribes, nor does it exist, honestly, in its current form, without the slave trade.

And it is true for most everything, generally speaking. The computer I am typing this on does not exist without the exploitation of someone, somewhere. This mug that holds my tea would never have made it to my cupboard with a least a dash of globalization.

And so how do I reconcile my trivial passions with my liberal, modern philsophies?

Fingers in my ears? Head in the sand?

It’s either that or stop enjoying cricket, among other things, which I am loathe to do.

Unfortunately, modern life requires blinders, no matter your disposition.

I don’t eat meat, but those that do rarely think about what happens on the killing floor of a slaughterhouse, for instance.

No conclusions today, just something I have been thinking about.

Now, if you will excuse, I want to watch the second half of Juventus v Roma on ESPN3.

Globalization has its advantages. I plan on writing about this a bit more down the road.

I am also putting together a longer post for later in the week that I am really excited about. Stay tuned.

Until next time.

*Caveat: Officially, the United Kingdom has a nuclear weapons program, not England. But for the sake of continuity, I am going to just use England in the post. 

**Also, part two of this three part series is here. 

Earlier today, over on Twitter, I mentioned that a nuclear attack scenario put on by 10 Downing in 1980 was named after the cricket fielding position: “Square Leg.” Cricket and nuclear weapons, hopelessly entwined…and so I begin part three of my discussion on the test nations with a nuclear arsenal.  Yesterday was India, today…

England invented cricket. In the sixteenth century, give or take, in or around Guildford in the county of Surrey. Records are spotty, of course, and some historians will tell you that a similar bat and ball sport dates all the way back to 1300 CE, but that seems like a bit of a stretch. The romantic likes to think that the game is over 900 years old, of course, but the realist in me says that I am going to have to go with it being just, just, 600 years young.

England cricketers played in the very first test match, against Australia, on March the 15th, 1876.

*

England was also one of the founding five fathers of the nuclear weapon phenomenon, along with the US, China, the Soviet Union, and France. (Those five nations also happen to be the five permanent members of the UN security council.) Their first weapon’s test was on October the 3rd, 1952, and their most recent on the 26th of November, 1991.  (I am going to look a bit more  into that most recent test. I mean, the Berlin Wall had fallen, the USSR was in shambles – why in the blue hell did the UK think it would be just a dandy idea to detonate a 20 kiloton nuclear warhead in the Nevada desert? A question for another day, and another blog.)

I digress:

1952 was an interesting time for England.

The War was over, of course, and the good guys had won. But the country was in ruins, the balance of world power had shifted to the USA and the USSR, they were bankrupt…

…and The Empire was disintegrating.

One of the final dominoes to fall was India in 1947.

And so, in some ways, as mentioned yesterday, England has been in steady decline since going nuclear, while Pakistan and India have only strengthened their presence on the world stage.  (Pakistan has taken a couple big steps backward in the last few years, admittedly.)

The real question here is: using their nuclear weapons program as a bookmark: how has England performed on the cricket pitch?

Their last match before their first weapons test was against India, on August 14-19 at the Kennington Oval, in London.

The match was ruined by weather, and ended in a draw.

David Sheppard hit one of his three centuries that day. Later, he went on to become an ordained minister and rose to become the Bishop of Liverpool.

Their first match as a nuclear power was almost a year later, against Australia, on June 11-16 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, in the first match of the 1953 Ashes series.

Just like at the Oval a year prior, the match ended in a draw. In fact, four out of the five matches of that year’s Ashes series ended in draws. England won the final match by eight wickets to regain the trophy.

David Sheppard didn’t play in the game at Trent Bridge, but Australia’s Lindsay Hassett did. Hassett was his country’s captain during their tour of England for the Victory Series in 1945, as a Sergeant in the Australian army.

The series is largely credited with re-popularizing the game in England after the War.

Speaking overall:

Before going nuclear, England played in 302 test matches that were not abandoned. They won 116 of them, lost 90 of them, and drew the rest.

Winning percentage, pre-nuclear: 38%

After October, 1952, England played in 623 test matches. They won 211 of them, lost 175, and drew the rest.

Winning percentage, post-nuclear: 34%.

And, therefore, unlike India and unlike Pakistan, England’s performance on the cricket field has gone downhill since developing a nuclear program.

There are no conclusions to be drawn here. I think it is interesting, though.

Two of England’s former colonies, developing nuclear weapons, becoming cricketing powerhouses, while England’s empire falls apart, and they lose their grip on the sport they invented, they popularized…

And most importantly it must be remembered that the game as we know it today does not exist without that broken empire.

Which, as I mentioned on Twitter earlier, will be a topic of a blog later in the week.

Until then.

Cricket.

And nuclear weapons.

They are an odd couple.

I have talked about this before, here and here, and I think it might be a topic worth exploring some more.

There are ten nations with full test status in cricket: England, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, the West Indies, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. An exclusive club, surely. Just ask Ireland.

Meanwhile there are nine nations with nuclear weapons: the United States, Russia, France, England, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Israel (supposedly). An even more exclusive club, and a far more dangerous one.

Three nations appear on both lists: England, India, and Pakistan.

In the links above, I talked about Pakistan’s first nuclear weapon’s test in 1998, and went on to relate its transformation into a nuclear power to the nation’s performance on the cricket pitch. (Read the links, it’s not nearly as ridiculous as it sounds at first glance.)

And, so, in the interest of fair play, I am going to do similar posts for both India and England.

I will begin with Pakistan’s neighbor.

India, as know it today, was formed in 1947, when they declared their independence from, coincidentally, England. However, most historians will tell you that their nuclear ambitions began even before their independence. Most trace is as far back as 1946, when soon to be Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, said: “I have no doubt India will develop her scientific researches and I hope Indian scientists will use the atomic force for constructive purposes.”

Officially, their weapon’s program began in earnest in 1968, with its first weapons test on May the 24th, 1974: Smiling Buddha was its codename.

The last cricket India played before going nuclear was in February, 1973. They played England in a test match at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. It ended in a draw. And India won the series 2-1.

Their first match as a nuclear power took place almost 18 months later, also against England, at Old Trafford in Manchester.

England won that one by 113 runs. And the other two matches went England’s way, as well. The tour itself was coined “India’s tour from hell.”

Their new found power on the world stage was not immediately transferring itself onto the cricket pitch, in other words.

Overall, however?

Between their first test match in England at Lord’s in 1932, and their last match before Smiling Buddha in 1974, a period of 42 years, India played in 129 test matches, winning 18, drawing 60, and losing the rest. A rather pitiful display, but hey, they were just starting out. (There had to have been a few abandoned matches in there, but Statsguru fails me sometimes. Or, more correctly, I fail Statsguru.)

After the nuclear test, and up until the most recent test match against Australia this year in Adelaide, India have played in 333 test matches (that were not abandoned). They won 103, whilst 142 ended in draws.

A much better record of course, but again, its meaningless, as their overall improvement as cricketing nation has nothing to do with their nuclear capabilities, but every look at history requires bookmarks, and I think nuclear power is a fine placeholder.

Here’s what we have so far then (test matches only):

Pakistan pre-nuclear winning percentage: 29%

Pakistan post-nuclear matching winning percentage: 37%

India pre-nuclear winning percentage: 14%

India post-nuclear winning percentage: 31%.

Make of that, what you will.

What it comes down is that as both nations have developed into world powers, their cricketing prowess has also  grown and matured. It’s almost as if, in order to be taken seriously, a country needs to develop in two areas: weapons of mass destruction…and sport. It’s silly, I know, but I think it’s worth a deeper look at some point, by some historian, somewhere, especially in the case of Pakistan.

Tomorrow: England.

(Which should be interesting, as they were a world power and a cricketing powerhouse long before nuclear weapons were even first imagined. And, really, one could say that England has declined over the last 100 years.)

Like I said, it should be interesting.

Until then.